Listing Files in Linux

Linux provides powerful commands for listing files and directories, allowing you to view and manage your filesystem efficiently. This guide covers the most commonly used commands for listing files, their options, and practical examples.

ls

• Lists files and directories in the current directory.
• By default, output is sorted alphabetically.

Sample Output

Desktop  Documents  Downloads  file.txt  script.sh

Common ls Options

Example

ls -lh

Sample Output:

-rw-r--r--.  1 user  user   12K Jul 22 09:00 file.txt
-rwxr-xr-x.  1 user  user  2.1K Jul 22 08:59 script.sh
drwxr-xr-x.  2 user  user  4.0K Jul 21 17:23 Documents

Explanation of Fields in ls -l

-rwxr-xr-x.   1    user    user   2.1K   Jul 22 08:59   script.sh
│            │     │       │      │      │             └── File name
│            │     │       │      │      └── Last modified date/time
│            │     │       │      └── File size
│            │     │       └── Group owner
│            │     └── Owner
│            └── Number of hard links
└── File type and permissions

Here’s a detailed explanation of file types in Linux as shown by the first character in ls -l output:

File Types in Linux (1st Character of ls -l Output)

How to View File Types

You can use:

ls -l

Or, to see file types clearly:

ls -lF

The -F option appends special symbols to filenames:

• / → directory
• * → executable
• @ → symlink
• | → FIFO
• = → socket

Example

$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r--  1 user user    0 Jul 22 10:00 file.txt
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user 4096 Jul 22 10:00 mydir
lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user   10 Jul 22 10:01 link -> file.txt
prw-r--r-- 1 user user    0 Jul 22 10:01 mypipe
srwxr-xr-x 1 user user    0 Jul 22 10:01 mysocket

Understanding ls Output Colors

If ls shows colors (enabled by default on most Linux systems), here’s what they mean:

You can force colored output using:

ls --color=always

Or disable it:

ls --color=never

touch – Creating Files

Basic Usage

touch filename

• Creates a new empty file.
• If the file already exists, it updates the timestamp (modification time).

Example

touch hello.txt

Creates an empty file called hello.txt.

Verify with ls -l:

ls -l hello.txt

-rw-r--r--. 1 user user 0 Jul 22 10:30 hello.txt

• File is empty (0 bytes).
• Permissions: rw- for owner, r-- for group and others.

Creating Multiple Files

touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

Updating Timestamps Only

touch existing_file.txt

This does not change the content — only the modification time.

Summary Table